Contents

Preserving our Assyrian language is an indication of our Assyrian being, by losing our language we will lose our entity. We are at the brink of melting and assimilating into different societies and cultures especially in diaspora.

The duration of our survival and our fate as Assyrians are in our commitment and behavior. Parents have a duty to preserve the Assyrian entity by giving their children historical and native Assyrian names.

It is worth mentioning to add the word ‘Beit’ to the family name between the first name and the last name.

For example: Dinkha Beit Khanania

The name ‘Beit’ will identify our unique Assyrian Nationality and race to Assyrians and non-Assyrians. This will relates the present to the past and will preserve our Assyrian identity and race for generations to come. We should be proud of our native Assyrian names, and with time, our names will be familiar and easy to pronounce to Assyrians and non-Assyrians alike.

I made every effort to provide an accurate meaning to male and female names.

I would like to thank malpana, Michael Younan, for his tremendous efforts in compiling this book “Assyrian Historical Names for Male and Female”. This remarkable little booklet has for me, and will have for many others, an indispensable resource for Assyrian names with their meaning.

In the past, few Assyrians were reluctant to use Assyrian native names in the countries we lived in such as Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. In this day and age, and especially now that we are living in the western world and have the freedom to choose any name for our children, it is imperative for Assyrians to start using our own names instead of foreign names.

I am hopeful and encourage all parents-to-be to start using this book and choose an Assyrian name for their children.

Michael Alexan Younan is an Assyrian who has dedicated many years to the education and preservation of the Assyrian language. His book “The Book of My Language, Assyrian” and his teachings have taught many generations of Assyrians since 1983.
“Our Assyrian language is the symbol of our entity. We must keep it alive.”